Lehigh County Official Fears Federal Cuts

March 09, 1985|by JEFF FLEISHMAN, The Morning Call

President Reagan's move to eliminate revenue sharing funds from the federal budget could cost Lehigh County $450,000 this year and possibly force a 10 percent increase in property taxes, says county commissioner Don Davies.

A loss of revenue sharing funds would be "a blow to all counties, in particular Lehigh. The consensus is that if this money is taken away the counties (nationwide) would have to raise property taxes some by as much as 25 percent," said Davies yesterday.

Davies, who recently returned from a four-day conference of the National Association of Counties held in Washington, said that most of the 1,800 county officials at the conference are ardently opposed to the elimination of revenue sharing.

The commissioner met with Senators John Hienz and Arlen Specter and Rep. Don Ritter, all of whom support the counties in the fight to keep revenue sharing funds flowing. Revenue sharing is one issue in the battle between Congress and the president over the writing of the 1986 budget.

At the end of this year, said Davies, "We (Lehigh County) would lose $450,000 in revenue sharing funds" if Reagan's budget passes. "And $1.7 million in each of the years to come."

Richard Klotz, county grants administrator, said that the $1.7 million from revenue sharing covers administration and prison salary costs. This frees up $1.7 million of county monies which go toward human services.

Reagan's proposed budget calls for cutting back revenue sharing from $4.6 billion nationwide to $1.2 billion in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The following year, Reagan wants revenue sharing eliminated.

Davies continued, "We have no way to make that money up. There's no room to cut costs. We can't cut back on the prison. We already have a tight budget." He said because the county cannot escape prison orother costs, the alternative is to raise property taxes. This, he said, would trigger a "strong resistance" from the public.

In a recent interview, Lehigh County executive David Bausch also stated that a tax increase, possibly of two mills, would be the result if revenue sharing and transportation funds were cut.

The president has vowed not to raise income taxes, said Davies, but through his proposed budget Reagan is putting pressure on local governments to raise taxes to compensate for federal cutbacks.

During a luncheon speech Reagan told the NACO officials that a number of state, local and county governments are running budget surpluses, adding that the federal government may not be able to justify giving out revenue sharing funds when the the federal budget has a huge deficit.

Davies and other NACO officials said the county governments are not running at surpluses because by law they are required to operate under balanced budgets.

While Reagan is a convincing speaker, Davies said there is support in both Houses to amend the proposed budget and add more money to social programs. "Most everybody seems to think that defense has to bear some of the brunt."